The Dead Rogue
by perfectsonnet
Summary: He was a red-eyed monster, like from the stories she was read to as a child. But she didn't remember the monsters in those stories being so handsome, so gentle, so... AU, obviously.
1. Chapter 1

Rachel was hypnotized by the boy with red eyes. He didn't look away from her either, but he didn't seem hypnotized, not even amused, more… curious. Why was he curious? Because she was the new girl? Or because she was wearing a fuzzy reindeer sweater in October, not to mention she was a senior in high school and dressing like a toddler? At least, according to the blonde girl in a cheerleading outfit earlier this morning, she was. Rachel gulped. Were red eyes normal? Had she been completely oblivious to normal eye colors in her last seventeen years of living?

The boy handed her the book she'd dropped and smiled with half of his mouth. Rachel tried to smile back but it probably looked more like a grimace. The boy stood up from his crouch on the floor and turned to walk away. Rachel followed his lead and stood up as well.

"That was really weird…" Tina broke the strange silence. Rachel almost jumped, she'd completely forgotten about the girl who had been assigned to help her find her classes today.

"Who was that?" Rachel asked, watching the tall boy turn around a corner far down the hallway.

"That was Finn Hudson. He doesn't talk much. And those eyes? Totally real. Freaky right? Must be some sort of genetic defect. He's kind of hot though, I would totally bang him if he invested in color contacts... Not that I bang people… And not that he'd be interested in me or anything. He hangs out with the "popular" people, like Quinn Fabray and Puck and Santana Lopez. Honestly, just stay away from that whole group; they're nothing but trouble. Stick with me, and you'll be fine!" Rachel could already tell she'd be stuffed into Tina's group of friends for the school year. Not that she minded. Tina was really nice, and hanging out with Talkative Tina, which Rachel secretly named her an hour into the school day, and the group of friends she was bound to meet soon was better than having no friends at all.

The bell rang abruptly and loudly, and Rachel actually jumped this time. For some reason that boy, _Finn_, put her on edge. Tina asked for Rachel's schedule, and she handed over the piece of paper.

"You've got Spanish II with Mr. Schuester next. I'm actually right next door in French II."

Tina headed down the hallway, presumably towards her class and Rachel followed suit. Tina pointed inside a classroom. "That's yours. I'll be next door, just wait for me after class, and we can walk to lunch together." Rachel nodded with a smile and hesitantly walked into a classroom with various sombreros hanging from the walls. Finn Hudson was seated in the very back row of tables, talking to a striking Latina with raven black hair who was sitting next to him. She walked up to the large desk in the front of the room and smiled at the man sitting behind the desk that she assumed was Mr. Schuester.

"Hi, you must be Rachel?" Rachel nodded in confirmation. "I'm Mr. Schue. I'm assuming you took Spanish I at your old school? And began Spanish II at your old school as well?" Rachel nodded again. "Si!" She exclaimed and then blushed. She was trying really hard not to be the loud, dramatic girl she known for at her old school. She wasn't about to start a conversation with her teacher in Spanish. She'd be labeled as a showoff, or worse, a teacher's pet.

The man laughed politely and continued, "Right, well, you'll fit right in here. You can take a seat next to Sugar. Sugar, raise your hand."

Rachel turned around to see a pretty brunette in a fur coat raise her manicured fingers to Mr. Schuester. She was sitting in the very back, in the table next to Finn's.

Rachel hitched her backpack higher on her shoulder and walked towards the table. She took a seat next to Sugar and offered her a hand to shake.

"I'm Rachel Berry," she said confidently.

Sugar (such a stupid name) looked at her hand as if it was covered in cow excrement. She smirked at Rachel and turned her body away from her. "We're not friends," Sugar stated loudly. Rachel's jaw dropped. She was losing count of how many people had been rude to her today. First the blonde girl, telling her she looked like a toddler. Then the girl in the bathroom who said something about her penny loafers, and now this girl, Sugar.

"Don't be such a bitch, Splenda," Rachel heard a masculine voice say from beside her. She turned to see Finn smiling softly at her. She tried to smile back this time, praying it didn't come off as a grimace again.

"Thank you," she whispered softly, before digging in her schoolbag to make herself look busy. Finn nodded and turned back to his friend.

Rachel glanced at Sugar to see her mouth wide open in shock.

She leaned towards Rachel and whispered softly, insuring only Rachel could hear what she was about to say. "How do you know him?" Rachel crinkled her eyebrows at this.

"I don't…"

"You obviously do. Why else would he defend you like that?"

Rachel was shocked by Sugar's instant change in demeanor.

"I don't know… because you were sort of being a bitch?" Rachel tried to say as politely as possible. Sugar seemed unfazed by the insult, still reeling from Finn's comment.

"Doesn't matter, Finn Hudson doesn't just _defend _people… I've only heard him talk twice this entire year."

Hudson, Rachel registered with an inward smile, like the river in her favorite city of all time.

Sugar awaited a response from Rachel, but what else was there to say? She didn't know why Finn had just defended her. He didn't even know her. She glimpsed at him once more but could only see the back of his head. She caught the eyes of the girl he was talking to, and her eyes narrowed at Rachel. Rachel looked away quickly. The Latina's eyes weren't red like Finn's, but they were piercing, almost black.

Sugar was still looking at her, waiting, when Mr. Schue clapped his hands to quiet down everyone.

"Hola, buenos dias," he addressed the class. Some students muttered back a reply in Spanish, but for the most part the class was unresponsive.

"We have a new student, Rachel Berry!" Rachel immediately flushed scarlet. Was he really going to single her out? All of her other teachers today had completely ignored the fact that they had a new student in their class, why couldn't he?

"Rachel, can you stand up and tell us a little about yourself? Don't worry, you can use English."

Rachel stood up slowly and watched as two-dozen heads turned around to look at her. She could feel Finn's eyes one her and she gulped. She told herself to be as nonchalant and calm as possible.

"I'm Rachel Berry. I just moved to Lima from New York, a little more than an hour away from the city. I love… Broadway and singing and Barbra Streisand," she muttered hesitantly. Before Mr. Schue could say more, Rachel abruptly sat down. Mr. Schue merely nodded and walked toward the chalkboard to write something in Spanish on it. All of the heads turned back towards the front of the classroom, and Rachel could feel all eyes leave her. Except for Finn's, which she continued to feel on her for the rest of class.

* * *

><p>Tina met Rachel at the door of the classroom as promised, and they headed towards the cafeteria.<p>

"How was Spanish?" Tina asked, maneuvering her way through the crowd of hungry teenagers.

"It was… interesting."

Tina giggled, "Mr. Schue's pretty lame, but he's nice and refuses to let anyone fail his class."

Rachel nodded, "No, he's totally cool. His pronunciation is terrible but he's definitely passionate about the language. Um… Finn was actually sitting next to me. Finn Hudson," she clarified.

Tina raised her eyebrows, "Let me guess, he completely ignored you and the fact that you ran into him like an hour ago?"

"No actually, he defended me," Rachel muttered breathlessly, from speed walking through the halls or remembering Finn's smile she wasn't quite sure.

"What?" Tina practically screeched. Gosh, maybe this guy really didn't talk.

"Yeah, this girl, Sugar? She was really rude to me, and Finn called her a bitch and… it was really sweet, actually."

"What in the actual hell. I have never in my life…" Tina trailed off when the pair stepped into the cafeteria.

Tina must've lost her train of thought because she didn't finish her sentence, only led Rachel to a table in the corner of the cafeteria where a boy in a wheelchair, a blonde boy with a big mouth, a boy with an extremely fashionable outfit, and a slightly larger black girl were sitting.

Tina sat down and Rachel followed suit. It was only then that she realized everyone, including Tina, had a packed lunch. Rachel took note to start packing hers as well. She wasn't willing to get in the cafeteria line today, so she'd just have to wait until after school to eat something at home.

"Guys, this is Rachel," Tina introduced to the rest of the table, "Rachel, this is Artie, Sam, Kurt, and Mercedes."

Kurt, the very fashionable one, eyed Rachel up and down before offering his hand. Rachel took it and they shook hands. She was glad someone else around here had real manners.

"I'm Kurt," he reintroduced himself, "where are you from?"

"Just outside of New York City."

Kurt gasped dramatically and put a hand to his heart, "Have you seen _Wicked_?"

Rachel's eyes widened in excitement, "Of course! I've seen it three times!"

"I saw it when it came to Columbus! Why in the world are you living in Lima, Ohio when you were so close to Broadway in your old town?"

"My dad's work," Rachel explained sadly.

Kurt nodded, rolling his eyes in agreement. "Parents. They ruin everything."

Rachel nodded, but felt slightly guilty. It wasn't her dad's fault he got offered a job at a great law firm in Lima. If Rachel wanted to go to NYADA next year, her dad needed the best paid job he could find.

"How's your first day?" Artie, the boy in the wheelchair, asked politely.

"It's been… okay," Rachel replied honestly. "Some people have been particularly mean, but the teachers are nice and Tina's been really helpful." She smiled encouragingly at her new friend.

Mercedes, the bigger girl, frowned, "Girl, who's been mean to you? I'll handle it."

Rachel felt her stomach turn in excitement. She was previously wary of Mercedes because of the look on her face when Rachel sat down but she was already willing to stand up for her.

"I'm not sure of their names," Rachel replied. She wasn't going to mention Sugar, and she really didn't know the names of the other two girls.

"Yeah, Finn Hudson's been defending her well enough," Tina chimed in. Sam stopped devouring his macaroni and looked up at her for the first time. He turned to Tina with disbelief written all over his face. "What?"

Tina nodded in confirmation. "Yep, apparently he called Sugar a bitch after she was rude to Rachel. Can you believe that?"

Sam nodded his head, baffled. Rachel was really starting to doubt the normalcy of Finn even acknowledging her. By the look on Sam's face one would think Tina had just said her father would be the next companion of Doctor Who. Or something equally as insane.

Rachel looked at the rest of the faces at the table, all sporting various faces of disbelief as well.

"Okay," Rachel spoke up, "What's the deal with him? Everyone's been acting weird when it comes to him."

"Finn and his… "clan," I guess you could call it, are… different. They don't really associate with anyone outside of their circle. Puck, Quinn, and Santana do have other friends but, I don't know, the four of them have some kind of… weird connection."

This only confused Rachel even more. Weird connection? Was she in a Twilight Zone? The five others at the table were leaning in, like they were scared someone would hear them. Almost like it was… dangerous to be overheard.

"Not to mention Finn barely even _speaks_ to anyone outside of the four of them," Sam chimed in, "At least the others _pretend_ to have social connections."

"Yeah, and I've heard some pretty sketchy things about them… things they've done." Artie said, leaning in.

Rachel was about to ask about these "sketchy things" when the bell rang for lunch to end.

She stood up with Tina and waved to the others before following Tina to the trashcan. She watched as Tina threw away her brown paper bag and headed towards the door. Rachel turned around as well and ran into a hard chest, the impact knocking her on her butt.

She looked up to see none other than Finn Hudson looking down at her. But he wasn't smiling. He didn't even look concerned. He looked her up and down once before muttering a rough "watch it" and walking away with a tough boy sporting a Mohawk. Rachel felt tears spring to her eyes and willed herself to calm down. If she cried on her first day, people would know her as a drama queen for the rest of the year, just like they did at her old school.

She accepted Tina's hand to help her onto her feet and she brushed off the nonexistent dust on her miniskirt.

"Are you okay?"

Rachel nodded, not yet trusting her voice to not crack.

"What did Finn say to you?"

Rachel only shrugged, before finding her voice. "He certainly wasn't very polite to me…"

Tina snorted. "Yeah, get used to it." Rachel wondered if Tina had decided Rachel made up the entire story about Finn defending her. Finn certainly didn't seem like he'd be open to defend her after that rude incident between the two of them. The last time she ran into him at least he smiled.

Why was that? Finn was practically a different person. His red eyes were blazing and his mouth was set in a hard line. What happened to him? What changed in such a short time?

Rachel suddenly felt an encompassing need to know everything about Finn Hudson.

* * *

><p>hi! i am very excited about this story. please review and let me know what you think.<p>

any guesses what's up with Finn and his "clan"


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

_Rachel walked through the darkened field slowly, her skin crawling with fear. She didn't remember how'd she gotten here and she didn't know where to go next. The wind chilled her to the bone, and she shivered violently. _

"_What're you doing?" Rachel turned around to see Finn Hudson staring at her, eyes blazing. _

"_I don't know, actually."_

"_It's not safe for you here, Rachel."_

"_Well, if you can show me the way, I'll be out of this field in no time. I don't even know how I got here."_

"_I'm not talking about the field. I'm talking about Lima. It's not safe for you in Lima, Rachel."_

"_Why?" Rachel asked, confused. Finn stared at her a moment longer before turning around and disappearing into the darkness. _

"_Why?" She screamed at his retreating back. _

Rachel gasped, awaking from her dream in a cold sweat. She turned to look at her alarm clock. 6:30 pm. She never took naps after school, but today was strangely exhausting. Rachel stretched her aching joints and got out of her bed, almost tripping over a box she had yet to unpack. They'd only officially moved into the house two days ago. Only her bed and her dresser were set up.

Rachel walked into her empty kitchen and sighed when she realized there was literally nothing to eat. Her papa apparently hadn't gone to the grocery store on his lunch break today like he said he would.

She dialed his number and he picked up, sounding tired and a little irritated.

"Hello?"

"Hi, papa. Long day?"

"You don't know the half of it baby. I don't think I'll be home till at least midnight."

"Midnight?" Rachel gasped. "It's your second day working at this firm and they're already making you stay past hours?"

Leroy laughed humorlessly. "It's all part of the job, hun."

"So I'm assuming I'm on my own for dinner?" Rachel asked delicately.

Leroy gasped dramatically. "I completely forgot to go to the store today! I'm sorry, sweetheart. Are you going to be okay driving to town by yourself? Maybe you should just order pizza."

"No, I already ate pizza in the cafeteria today. I'll be fine. It's such a small town, I doubt I'll get lost."

"Rachel, are you sure?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Papa, please! I've navigated my way around the concrete jungle a thousand times. I can handle this cow town."

Her papa laughed at this, the deep sound comforting Rachel over the phone. "Okay, text me once you get back. Got it?"

"Promise."

Rachel hopped into her '94 Grand Cherokee and pulled out of the driveway. While she drove, she starting thinking about the dream she'd had. It had felt so real, being lost in that field. And what was it Finn had said to her?

Rachel let out a scream and slammed on her breaks when a deer suddenly ran right in front of her car. She swerved to miss it and ended up driving right into a ditch.

Her heart was beating a million miles a minute. She opened her car door and immediately vomited her lunch into the ankle deep ditch water. Once her stomach was empty, she assessed the damage to her car. It was thankfully fine. The ditch wasn't very deep but there was no way her car could drive itself out alone. She'd need to call a tow truck. Rachel reached into her car for her phone but didn't see it. Had it fallen when she drove into the ditch? She searched the passenger side's floor, the crevices between the seats, and even the backseat. Nope, she'd definitely left it on the kitchen counter. Lovely.

Rachel was now convincing herself not to cry. She knew it wouldn't do her any good and that she needed to stay calm. There were cornfields to the right and left of her. She was in the middle of nowhere but remembered passing a sketchy gas station only a few miles back. Her only choice would be to walk there, call her dad, call a tow truck, and while waiting, she supposed she could eat some gas station food.

Rachel quietly walked down the side of the road towards the gas station. The only noise was the sound of her feet hitting the road step by step. Thankfully it was only October and the harsh Ohio winter hadn't kicked in yet or she probably would've actually frozen to death.

She quietly sang the _Rent _soundtrack to keep herself calm. She guessed she was about halfway there and so far no cars had driven by. Lima really was a cow town.

Rachel heard some kind of animal howl from the left of her and picked up her pace. She wasn't cut out for this kind of life. She was a city girl. She knew what it was like to be weary of strangers but wild animals? That was undocumented territory to her.

After what felt like hours, Rachel reached the small gas station. There were no cars pumping gas but it was definitely open.

She walked into the small gas station. There was a TV in the corner hanging from the ceiling. A local news station displayed the headline: **Missing boy found dead in cornfield twenty miles from home**

Rachel shuddered when she read this. She'd just walked three miles surrounded by cornfields.

She walked up to the counter but there was no one there. "Hello?" she called out, assuming they were in the back. "Hello!" she called again when there was no reply, this time louder.

"I think they're on break," someone directly behind her mused, and Rachel screeched in surprise. She turned around to see Finn Hudson, eyes shining bright red as ever, standing directly behind her. He was dressed in dark jeans and a black leather jacket, a black tshirt underneath it. Just like in the dream she had less than an hour ago. Rachel could not deny he was the most beautiful boy she'd ever seen.

"Where did you come from?" Rachel asked suspiciously. Finn looked at her as if _she_ was the one who'd appeared out of thin air.

"The door?"

Rachel shook her head as if to berate herself. "Right, sorry, I'm a little jumpy. I just walked three miles in the dark to get here after driving my car into-"

"You _what_?" Finn asked, sounding absolutely furious. Rachel's eyes widened in shock.

"I drove into a ditch… I didn't have a choice."

"Are you fucking crazy? Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"Whoa, calm down _dad_. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself." Rachel resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Who was this guy to raise his voice at her? He didn't even know her.

"Haven't you been watching the news lately, _big girl_? People are disappearing. You think you can handle yourself against a wild animal? Or something worse?"

"Look, I'm sorry I _offended_ you. Next time I'll wait in my car for that _wild animal_ to come for me. And who are you to be cursing at me like that? You don't even know me, sir. And you definitely didn't care for my wellbeing at lunch when you knocked me down and told me to, what was it? "Watch it?"" Finn sighed, scrubbing his hand over his face.

"I'm sorry about that. I'm not usually like that."

"According to the entire school, you're not usually anything." Rachel cringed at this. Why would she mention that? Finn had to know what everyone thought about him and she didn't know if he was sensitive about it. She was certainly sensitive about what her old school thought about her. Then again, as far as she could tell, her and Finn were total opposites.

Finn chose to ignore Rachel's comment and rang the bell on the counter a few times, seemingly trying to get the clerk's attention in the back.

"I don't think they're coming. Can I just borrow your cell phone, please?"

"Don't have one," Finn muttered, walking down the candy aisle. Rachel followed him in confusion.

"You don't have a cell phone?"

"Nope."

"This really is a cow town."

Finn barked out a rough laugh, grabbing five bags of Doritos from a rack display of chips.

"Look, I'll drive you to your car, get it out of the ditch, and you can be on your way. _Home_."

"Um, you can't just get my car out of the ditch. It needs a tow truck."

"No, trust me, I can."

Rachel rolled her eyes, "Your confidence is inspiring, truly it is, but you _cannot _drag my ten ton car out of the ditch."

"Trust me, I can," he repeated, eyes racking the shelves of food.

"I don't know you, and I can't trust you. But I can trust science, and science tells me that you can't."

"You don't have many options here. The clerk is clearly not here and there won't be anyone else driving in to get gas anytime soon."

"How do I know you're not going to murder me?"

Finn laughed again at this and turned to Rachel. She was immediately hypnotized by his red eyes for the second time today.

Finn headed towards the door and Rachel begrudgingly followed. "Wait! You need to pay for those." Rachel gestured to the bags of chips in Finn's hands.

Finn waved his hand at the counter, "No one to pay to."

Rachel's eyes widened and she searched the ceiling for security cameras. Seeing none, she quickly followed Finn out of the store.

Finn unlocked the doors to a black pickup truck and effortlessly jumped inside.

Rachel had a little bit more trouble climbing into the high truck. She was five foot three on a good day. Finn reached over to offer her his hand. She took it gladly and was shocked by how warm it was. Finn let go quickly, and Rachel had to catch herself on the open door so she didn't fall out of the truck.

Finn's driving was horrendous to say the least. He turned out of the gas station like he had just committed a robbery. Then again, he sort of had. Rachel had to grip her door to comfort herself. He either didn't want to listen to the radio or it didn't work, so the short ride to her car was in absolute silence. The silence made Rachel extremely but Finn didn't seem to notice. His eyes were glued to the road.

"There I am," Rachel pointed ahead of them to her jeep that was still sitting with its front angled into the ditch.

Finn pulled up behind her car and jumped out. Rachel watched him walk to the front of her car but she could see nothing once Finn's truck lights turned off.

She opened her car door and climbed out cautiously, trying not to land in the ditch Finn had parked so close to. By the time she was situated safely on the ground, her jeep was completely out of the ditch and resting in front of Finn's truck.

Rachel's eyes bulged. "Oh my God," she whispered. Finn appeared next to her, his face expressionless.

Rachel turned to him, "How…"

"I lift weights. It's no big deal. Can you get home without killing yourself or getting killed?" Finn asked, eyeing her.

Rachel, still in shock, nodded her head mutely.

Finn got into his truck without another word and drove off.

Rachel quickly got into her jeep and turned around. She was definitely skipping dinner.

xx

She awoke the next morning to her Papa shaking her awake.

"Rachel, sweetheart, I made pancakes."

Rachel smiled sleepily and followed her papa to the kitchen.

"What time did you get home last night?" Rachel asked, pouring maple syrup on her stack of pancakes.

"Around one. I stopped at the store, thank God for twenty-four hour supermarkets, after I got off work."

"Papa, you didn't have to do that! I could've stopped for breakfast on my way to school or something."

"Oh don't be silly Rachel. I'm your father, this is my job. I already felt _terrible _about making you go out to dinner last night. Speaking of that, where did you end up going? Any Michelin stars in this town?" While her papa laughed at his own joke, Rachel contemplated whether she should tell her papa what happened or not. He would be angry at her for not calling him when she had the opportunity, plus, how could she explain Finn to him?

She racked her brain for anything she saw on her way to school yesterday to use as a cover up.

"Yeah, I ate at this place called Breadsticks. It was like Olive Garden but worse." Her papa offered her a sympathetic look. Rachel averted her gaze. She hated lying to her papa. He was her favorite person in the world and she owed so much to him.

Her father died when she was seven years old in a car accident. Her papa took it very hard, they were soulmates, he'd said, but he never let that affect his relationship with his daughter. He raised Rachel well, sacrificing everything to provide for her. That's why she couldn't resent him for moving her to Lima, away from her favorite city in the world. He was doing everything for her.

"Did you make any friends yesterday?"

"Well this girl, Tina, was assigned to help me around school. I think she might be my friend but I don't know…"

"I'm sure you made a great impression on her! Don't worry about making friends, Rachel. People will navigate towards you because of your shining personality."

Rachel smiled but inwardly she was cringing. At her old school everyone seemed to think she was generally overbearing. And okay, she couldn't really deny that. The theatre was her life. She was in all the school musicals, fall and spring, and she competed competitively with her high school's glee club. She sometimes hung out with the theatre kids but she wasn't sure they actually liked her very much. She did have one boyfriend, Jessie St. James, but that only lasted two months. He dumped her because she wouldn't sleep with him and started dating a girl named Sunshine, her main competition in glee club. Rachel was _not_ waiting for marriage, just to clear that up. But something always felt off with Jessie. She couldn't commit herself to the relationship, and so she knew she couldn't give herself to him.

"I've got to head out, sweetie. Have a good day at school, yeah?"

Rachel nodded and her papa rustled her hair before heading out the back door. Rachel sighed and finished her pancakes before going to her room to get dressed for another day at school.

xx

"Is there a glee club here?" Rachel asked Tina at lunch. She'd approached Rachel in the morning and started talking her ear off about something Rachel didn't care about. Despite this, Rachel was thrilled. This meant they were definitely friends.

Tina giggled at this, moving down in the cafeteria line. "There used to be. This creep teacher named Mr. Ryerson used to run it. He got fired for inappropriate touching though, and glee club is officially no more."

Rachel sighed sadly.

"Why? Can you sing?" Tina inquired curiously.

Rachel reminded herself not to brag. "Yeah, I'm pretty good." Tina nodded, "Cool."

She was so proud of herself. _This is how you keep friends Rachel! This is how you don't be overbearing!_

Rachel suddenly had a strange feeling that someone was watching her. She turned around and sure enough, Finn's scorching red eyes were staring straight at her. She smiled at him but he only looked away, turning to talk to the beautiful blond girl next to him. The same blond girl who told her she dressed like a toddler yesterday. _Bitch_.

Rachel let the lunch lady drop gravy on her mashed potatoes before following Tina to the same table they sat at yesterday.

"So, no glee club. What about school plays?" Rachel asked.

"That we do have! We _all_ actually participate in the school plays." Tina replied, gesturing to Artie, Mercedes, Sam, and Kurt.

"Not me," Sam chimed in.

Rachel gasped in excitement. "Oh my gosh, that's so exciting. When are auditions?"

"They should be coming up in the next few weeks," Tina informed her.

"Girl, you can sing?" Mercedes asked her, eyebrows raised.

Rachel reminded herself of the same thing she did earlier. "Yes, I'm pretty good."

"Good," Mercedes smiled, "we need more people auditioning. Last year we couldn't do _West Side Story_ because not enough people tried out."

Rachel put her hand on her heart. "What a travesty! My old school did _West Side Story_ in tenth grade. I was Maria."

"You must be pretty good to have played Maria," Kurt bemused. Rachel only smiled at him and shrugged.

"So Rachel, we're all going to see a movie tonight. You're in, right?" Sam asked, smiling at her.

"Sounds fun! What movie?"

"Whatever's playing. Lima's theatre is a little behind and has minimal options but it's something to do."

Rachel nodded. Even the movie theatre was behind.

"You all have cell phones, right?"

Everyone at the table stared at her like she had a second head. "This is 2015, of course we have cell phones." Rachel laughed. So it wasn't a Lima thing. It was a Finn thing.

"Give us your number and we'll all text you ours," Artie insisted, taking out his phone.

Rachel gave the table her number and shortly after, the bell rang.

She passed Finn on her way out of the cafeteria. Thankfully she didn't run into him this time but just like last time, he completely ignored her.

xx

The rest of the school day went by fast. Truthfully, Finn was on Rachel's mind the entire day. She kept thinking about the previous night. How was Finn that strong? To push her car out of the ditch, not only by himself but in mere seconds. It was… unbelievable. And Finn acted like nothing had even happened. He didn't try to talk to her. He didn't even look her way.

Rachel was determined to corner him. She wanted an explanation _and_ she wanted to thank him. Even though he was a little bit rude and standoffish, he had definitely helped her out of a bad situation last night.

After eighth period Rachel spotted Finn floating down the hallway with the mohawked boy next to him.

"Finn!" She called to his retreating back. Déjà vu, Rachel realized, from her dream.

Everyone around her stared at her like she was crazy. Rachel rolled her eyes. She was getting tired of the "You're talking to Finn Hudson?!" act.

"Finn!" She called again and this time he turned around, and immediately locked eyes with her. He raised his eyebrows in question and said something to the mohawked boy who looked at Rachel suspiciously, nodded at Finn, and then walked away.

Rachel felt the entire hallway's eyes on her as she walked towards Finn, who was burning holes into her with his rouge eyes.

When Rachel reached Finn she could've sworn she saw him hiding a smile from her.

"Yes?" He drawled lazily. Rachel looked around. Most people had moved on but some were still staring at them.

"I think you owe me an explanation for last night," Rachel whispered.

"What's there to explain?"

"Well for starters, how you moved my ten ton car."

"I told you, I lift wei-"

"I don't believe you," Rachel interrupted.

Finn shrugged, "That's all you're getting from me Rachel. Have a good weekend."

Rachel felt like jumping on Finn's back and screaming when he turned around and started to walk away from her. He was the most infuriating boy she'd ever talked to. And she knew he was lying to her. She knew there was a _real_ explanation. She just didn't have any idea what it was.

xx

Merry Christmas! From me you get an update on a pretty irrelevant finchel ff. :)


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